This is not a review of Anger Foot. For that you can read Adam’s excellent write-up right here, where he said, “…Anger Foot is an arcade booter shooter that laces up and refuses to stop kicking ass” and stomped it with a healthy 8.5/10 review score.
Instead, this is something of a celebration, because Anger Foot has finally arrived on a platform that I own. Looking in from the outside, DualSense in hand, as yet another Devolver joint is lapped up by the PC crowd is never easy, and this particular title’s screeching mashup of Hotline Miami and boomer shooter is right up my piss-soaked alley. So, it’s to my own great pleasure that the game is now available to PS5 owners, and after having spent a few days finally getting to play matchmaker between my rancid dogs and the faces of every goon that comes sniffing, I’m delighted to report that Adam’s endorsement holds up.
For context, and to elucidate the incredibly subtle title, Anger Foot is a game about kicking c*nts in the face. The masked menace attached to these testy tootsies is a sneakerhead residing in Shit City, an aptly-monikered metropolis where crime is the law and the law is more crime. On having your apartment busted into and your Preemo kicks nicked, a quest for revenge ensues that sees you cross Shit City, stage by quickfire stage, murdering every gang member that looks your way until the treasured trainers are back where they belong – in acrylic display cases never to be used for their intrinsic purpose.
The best way to describe Anger Foot is unfortunately that earlier comparison to Hotline Miami. It shares the DNA of an arcade-y, speedrunning murder sim where your avatar is a glass cannon capable of racking up a horrifying body count but with all of the pain tolerance of my nan rationing out the flavour sachet in her Old El Paso taco kit. It’s an exercise in finding the perfect run in each stage, memorising the layouts and enemy positions to figure out when and where to boot or shoot your way to victory.
I haven’t quite finished kicking and screaming through the game’s 60+ levels just yet, but that’s mostly because the challenging optional objectives in every level and overall “One More Go” vibe of the thing have kept me locked in on each new stage for far longer than the few minutes it actually takes to beat most of them. For the game to be this moreish does go a long way to alleviate the FOMO I associate with not owning a Steam Deck or some other handheld PC gaming gizmo – having Anger Foot at my toetips at any given moment would put me in so much trouble.
Looking at broader opinions of this one since its PC launch, what criticisms exist are pretty consistent. Some overly long stages that betray the die-and-try-again cadence, gunplay that’s not quite up to its own challenge and an air of repetition are all valid marks against Anger Foot. Funnily enough, playing on a console with a controller meant that I went in already expecting to be a bit of a shit shot, so the slightly sloppy hit(shoe)boxes didn’t register as immediately problematic. The lapses in design and polish have resulted in a lot of hiding behind doorways and kicking fools to death as they pass through, an illogical rage against the game’s systems in order to garner top marks at a level’s end.
Admittedly, this is also something of a barefoot port for the PS5. The game you get here seems to be exactly what launched onto the PC in July last year, at least in regards to what’s on-screen. What it does do differently is make use of the DualSense controller’s unique features to bring the rhythmic, pulse-pounding action into your hands. The controller vibrates and lights up along with the thumping soundtrack, and there’s adaptive trigger stuff going on to make using your feet and other weapons feel more distinct. These are subtle additions, but they definitely complete the sensory experience, especially if you’re in a position to play the game on a fuck-off big telly with a sound system to match.
Those hoping for this console rendition of the game to sport a top-notch visual setup won’t quite get what they’re looking for, though. Anger Foot runs at 1080p and 60FPS on PS5, without any additional enhancements on PS5 Pro. Which is totally fine! This is a game with a strong, stylised look that isn’t predicated on technical prowess, and the baseline 60FPS performance suits the action perfectly. If you’re sitting close enough to your panel you will absolutely see some aged-looking jaggies, but you’ll hardly notice once you get moving. Where we’re going we need laced Js, not traced rays.
All said, I’m stoked to finally be able to play Anger Foot, bunions and all, in my living room on my PS5. It took a hot minute for Free Lives and Devolver to walk it over to Sony’s machine, but hopefully it proves worth the trouble and the game finds a new audience to marvel at its festy footwork.
You can grab the game right now on the PlayStation Store.
PS5 code supplied by publisher for coverage purposes.
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